and, most importantly, i made it through the entire triathlon without collapsing and dying. and while swimming, even though the place to turn around out there in the lake was approximately a zillion miles further than it looked from the shore, i didn’t just give up and sink quietly to the bottom, like i really wanted to.
i came in second to last in the swim. the thing is, i was kicking with my legs, i was doing the strokes with my arms, it all felt to me like i was going plenty fast.
but of course i wasn’t. of course i was really barely moving at all, compared to all those other swimmers.
at least after a while, everybody was in front of me, so there was no risk of crashing into anybody else. that was sort of the theme of the whole race, as a matter of fact – many times i felt like it was just me, out exercising by myself as usual.
during the bike, i was once again far, far behind, because i’d been so slow in the swim. i’m not exactly speedy on the bike either, for that matter, and as i rode down the country road, wondering if i was going to end up in another state, i started singing to myself, mostly “hey hey we’re the monkees,” for some reason, and ringing my bell on my bike. i don’t think anybody else had a bell on their bike. also, most seemed to have racing bikes, instead of a cross kind of bike like mine. is this why they were all faster than me?
no, it’s because they were faster than me, that’s why they were faster.
the run was unbelievably hot. blazing sun, lots of humidity, hot heat beating down on me. i started out and couldn’t catch my breath, but kept going, and actually started passing a few people. i passed a 74 year old man, for example. i passed some women in my age category, and a few who were younger.
at the end, i thought i was going to pass out. but i didn’t.
the cold water was all gone by the time i was done. the tri didn’t seem organized so well. they were also out of snacks by the time i had any interest in eating. what’s the point of all that hard work, if there are no snacks?
there are many other things i’d like to write about the tri, but i have to go to sleep now. i napped for an hour today, but it wasn’t enough.
i saw “batman begins” tonight. an excellent film, i think it might even be better than the first one. i don’t know how they managed to suddenly make a good batman movie, when the others have been so wretched, but i’m glad they did.
i have to say that even though i was slow in the race, i did feel good about finishing it. it gave me a sense of accomplishment, and on one hand, it made me NEVER WANT TO DO IT AGAIN, but at the same time, i kept thinking that i have to figure out how to swim faster in order to do better next time.
anyway, after the empowerment of finishing the tri, seeing batman furthered this feeling. the big message that they kept hitting me over the head with was something like “you fall down so you can learn to pick yourself up.” now, i fall down because i’m very clumsy, but of course the symbolic falling down i’ve had to experience over and over again in my life has certainly made it easier to pick myself up.
so, i finished the triathlon, i managed to do a little mountain biking last week without any blood lost, i’m liking this feeling i have at the moment and it’d be nice if it lasted more than 15 minutes. but i’ll take what i can get. and in the meantime, WATCH OUT, because i’m not in the mood to put up with an inordinate amount of annoyance or frustration. time to take charge, time to be BATMAN!
no, i don’t want to be batman.
elastigirl, maybe.
ok then,
grace ready for just about anything.